


This Was Not the Plan

by Candyoranges



Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bad Decisions, M/M, Which May Be Good Decisions, or maybe not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7566265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candyoranges/pseuds/Candyoranges
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything had gone according to plan, so why did Nathan feel like he had completely lost control?</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Was Not the Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Fuller summary: Nathan seduces Carter out of spite. If Allison doesn't want him, then he doesn't want to see her move on with someone else. So he steals Carter first. But he was never supposed to actually want Jack.

When Allison handed him the divorce papers, Nathan was furious. Oh there was frustration, rejection, and hurt in there too, but he chose to focus on being angry. He had come back to Eureka ready to solve all the problems of their marriage. He had even apologized for walking out in the manner that he had (even if he still thought she had been completely unreasonable during the fight immediately prior). Yet she hadn’t even given him a chance. 

What was even more insulting was that she may have thrown him over for a man with half his I.Q. (and half his sense of taste). That was unacceptable. Allison may have rejected him, but that did not mean he was prepared to watch her happily move on with someone else – especially not with Carter. None of his attempts to ridicule the sheriff seemed to change Allison’s opinion. In fact, more often than not it led to her turning her disapproval against _Nathan_. The last thing he wanted to do was to drive her into the blond’s arms through his own actions.

Fortunately, he knew there were always multiple angles from which to approach any problem. If he couldn’t convince Allison to start ignoring Carter, then he’d induce the sheriff to lose interest in her. He knew that trying to make Allison appear less attractive to Carter would fail even more spectacularly than when he’d been attempting the reverse. So he went with Plan C.

Seducing Jack Carter was surprisingly easy. Nathan had long known how to push the other man’s buttons when trying to make him angry or irritated; it had only required a slight adjustment to learn which other buttons to push instead. (There was, in truth, a conspicuous overlap between the buttons that made Carter lose control with anger and those that made him lose control with passion.)

That had all unfolded perfectly. Once Carter was in his bed, the sheriff had quickly stopped paying any attention to Allison beyond casual conversations while at Global or around town. Allison, in turn, had backed off and made no move to further pursue the blond man.

So everything had gone according to plan.

Except…

Except he wasn’t supposed to _want_ Jack. He didn’t mean that physically. Jack Carter was a very attractive man (albeit in a more wholesome way than Nathan’s own tall, dark, and charming appeal), and he’d found himself surprisingly open to sleeping with the other man when he had developed his plan. Physical attraction was never the issue and had nothing to do with affection; but then he had never seen emotional attachment as a prerequisite for intercourse.

Except Allison was not supposed to be so happy for him, for _them_ , when she found out. _(Fargo had paid more attention to SARAH’s logs than Nathan had assumed – although the fact that he had immediately blabbed to Vincent about what he saw showed his continued lack of survival instinct.)_ Her initial reaction had fallen in line with Nathan’s expectations: she had been shocked, and she’d even been somewhat upset at Jack for choosing Nathan over her. Only two days later however, she had appeared in Nathan’s office to apologize for that initial reaction and for the way their marriage had ended – and to express how glad she was that he’d found someone who could be the partner to him that she hadn’t been.

Except Nathan wasn’t supposed to develop an emotional attachment to the man he was seducing. One day he had suddenly realized he was no longer sneaking out at midnight (or watching Jack sneak home), and was instead staying the whole night and waking up to bright blue eyes almost every single morning. He was sharing coffees and lunches at Café Diem. He looked for excuses to spend more time at the bunker, (until Jack broke into his house, stole three sets of his clothes and half his toiletries, and installed the whole lot into a spare drawer in Jack’s bedroom). 

_Except he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with goddamn Jack Carter._

He didn’t know when his plan had gone so horribly wrong. What had he planned to do after he had successfully separated the sheriff from his ex-wife? He couldn’t remember anymore.

All he knew now was that he could never admit to Jack the true origins of their relationship. The blond man would never forgive him, and Nathan would never again see one of those smiles where Jack’s eyes lit up like supernovas – smiles that Jack only ever aimed at _him_. Even more damning, Jack would never forgive him for Zoe becoming caught up in the plan. Dating Jack had involved spending time with Zoe as well, from casual family dinners to homework advice. But if their whole relationship had been based on a lie, then his budding friendship with Zoe would be a lie too, wouldn’t it? _Maybe_ Jack could forgive him for the hurt done to himself, but there would be no forgiveness for hurting his daughter.

Of course he had never spoken about nor written down his plans, so the details of his intentions existed solely in his head. There was literally no way for anyone to discover the truth (barring random truth serum exposure at G.D.), so keeping the secret from Jack should have been easy.

It wasn’t easy. Somewhere along the line, lying to Jack became one of the hardest things he had ever done.

_They were wrapped around each other in bed enjoying the afterglow and the quiet when Jack looked up at him, chin resting on Nathan’s chest. “Who would have thought we’d end up like this? You and me together, and no bloody knuckles in sight.” A pause, as Jack started drawing distracting patterns on Nathan’s skin. “Have I ever told you…” Kiss. “…how happy I am…” Stroke. “…that you decided to…” Caress. “…kiss me that day in the lab?”_

It was a good thing that Jack not been expecting a quick refractory period at their age, because the flush of shame that had washed through Nathan then erased any chance of arousal.

Despite all his best efforts, the guilt was slowly tearing him up inside. He tried to keep that a secret too, but Jack always noticed his melancholy moods and would do something extra thoughtful to make him feel better. This of course only made him feel guiltier, and it all kept spiraling downwards.

Nathan knew he had ruined one of the best things to ever happen to him before it really even started. It was his selfishness and possessiveness that had caused the problem, and it was the reason he could never resolve it now. He would hold onto Jack as hard and as long as he could – even knowing that Jack would inevitably discover the truth and leave him. Maybe it wouldn’t be today or tomorrow, but he couldn’t help but see an expiration date looming overhead and souring every moment they shared together.

He was caught in a trap of his own devising, and the teeth clenched tighter every day.


End file.
